Member

In relation to a care order, I am grateful that His Majesty’s Government amended the Bill to mandate that the appointment of the nominated person in those circumstances must be the local authority alone. In this Bill, I would say the same rationale applies to special guardians. Why? The Children Act is clear that parents, if a special guardianship order is made by the family court, have parental responsibility only for things such as leaving the jurisdiction for more than three months, or surname changes. Neutered parental responsibility is apparently now the term used when the authority of the court has limited the parents’ parental responsibility, sometimes due to illness or neglect, or, sadly, because they present a danger to the children themselves. It is of course open to a parent to apply for leave to the court to disapply the special guardianship and regain full parental responsibility if, for instance, they have recovered from an illness.